Origin Coffee, Penryn

Welcoming new neighbours Origin Coffee to our converted Victorian warehouse here in Penryn - featuring 1950s opaline pendant lights from us at skinflint. Joining their Shoreditch, Hammersmith, Southwark and British Library venues in London, as well as the 'Brew House' in Porthleven, their first dine-in space ‘The Warehouse’ provides a calming environment to enjoy a vibrant breakfast and lunch menu sourced fresh from local producers (alongside a great cup of coffee of course).

The once dingy interior has been completely overhauled by Hart Miller Design (HMD) and features a pair of our vintage opaline globes salvaged from Czechoslovakia making a bold statement in the entranceway. Planting and pale-green paneling and contemporary wooden fretwork help to divide the space creating more intimate dining areas, while also softening the industrial feel. Patterned floor and green wall tiling by Bert & May also lift the mood.

We caught up with interior designer Anna Hart of HMD to find out more:

skinflint: What was the vision for your design of Origin’s flagship dine-in space?

Anna: This is our sixth project with Origin and we were delighted to be creating a new space for them on our doorstep here in Cornwall. One of the delights of working with Origin is that for each location we are given creative freedom, to respond to the feeling of a location; each space designed to have an individual quality of its own.

For this space we wanted to embrace 'The Warehouse' aesthetic that belies the building’s origins and in tandem took reference from Australian cafe culture where great food accompanies great coffee. Our focus was to reflect these qualities in our materials palette, detailing and furniture specification, ensuring all these elements feel as good to interact with as it does to enjoy the food and coffee offer.

Were there any particular challenges you had to deal with on this project?

I don’t think any project is free of challenges, it would feel unnatural to have one pan-out to the letter. Getting our details right on this project presented some challenges as there is not one square surface in 'The Warehouse', neither vertical or horizontal to use for setting. Challenging for us and then also for contractors who have detailed joinery, tiling and flooring to implement.

Apart from the lights, what is your favourite element in the space?

My favourite element is a view. Sitting at the front of the cafe, you look back through the timber screen and our palette of materials has been translated off the sample board in to that framed view – and your lovely pendants are foregrounded in that space too!

Why did you select these particular lights and what effect do they have on the interior?

At the front of the cafe we had to accommodate people coming and going alongside a table setting. We wanted to ensure these customers didn’t feel like they weren’t ‘in the way’ so we created a specific setting that would feel purposeful and bring a sense of scale to the space. With a high-level bench and your lights marking this space out it’s a great place to watch all the comings and goings.

What three interior design trends can’t you get enough of at the moment?

In the studio we’re loving biophilia, plants are back and plentiful. Hopefully this is more than a passing trend as there is a lot of evidence to support their value in many different environments. Materials wise it’s great to see a migration away from walnut and oak as the stable timbers of any scheme. And lastly colour; we’ve been appreciating a new passion for colour in the world.

Finally, what’s your favourite thing on the Origin menu?

I’m still working my way through it but can report back that my research is so far, so, so good!